Melbourne Airport's SkyBus will begin running a new shuttle service between St Kilda and Tullamarine Airport this year.

Having taken over the route currently being managed by Frankston and Peninsula Airport Shuttle, the iconic red SkyBus fleet – which now includes free WiFi – will see departures from St Kilda every 30 minutes from 6.30am until 7.30pm, seven days a week.

One-way fares between St Kilda and Melbourne Airport will be $19 and return trips $38, with discounts for frequent corporate travellers and travel organisers.

The SkyBus St Kilda-Melbourne Airport service will commence this winter, although an exact start date has yet to be set.

Service will be the most cost effective and frequent transport option between St Kilda and the airport.

SkyBus, operators of Melbourne’s express CBD to airport transport service, today announced that it will shuttle passengers between St Kilda and Melbourne Airport, starting this winter.

SkyBus’ ubiquitous red buses will make the trip directly from the Port Phillip suburb to Tullamarine Airport, with a frequent travel schedule.

SkyBus has taken over the route currently being managed by Frankston and Peninsula Airport Shuttle, and will significantly increase the service with departures leaving St Kilda every 30 minutes from 6.30am until 7.30pm, 7 days a week. This increase in shuttles provides a consistency in service not previously available to those traveling to and from the St Kilda area.

Michael Sewards, Director of SkyBus, said: “We are excited to bring our vehicles to St Kilda and offer both locals and travellers an outstanding service. This new offering makes traveling from the airport to the unique and iconic St Kilda area even more cost effective and accessible than ever before. The route is more direct and will offer the amenities that our customers have come to expect and appreciate about SkyBus – free WiFi, online ticketing options, luggage racks and superior service to other local transport options.”

The addition of this new service line not only provides an express travel option between St Kilda and Tullamarine Airport at a more cost effective fare, but also provides service over a wider range of hours, both on the weekend and weekdays.

Laura Cavallo, Chief Executive of Destination Melbourne, said: “St Kilda is an iconic destination within Melbourne, with thousands of travellers and residents coming in and out of the area daily. Having an express and cost-effective service that’s guaranteed to shuttle locals and visitors in and out of the area is fantastic. We are thrilled to have a dedicated SkyBus route between St Kilda and Tullamarine Airport.”

St Kilda and the Port Phillip area is home to more than 25 hotels, who are overwhelmingly in favour of seeing the big red bus in their neighbourhood. With the implementation of this new service, SkyBus will also provide hotels with the ability to book airport shuttle services online – an added benefit to both the hotel and their guests.

Denise Castro, General Manager of St Kilda Tourism & Events, said: “This is a great service for the local residents and visitors to our shores. St Kilda has so many icons that are associated with Melbourne and seeing the red SkyBus shuttling between the area and airport will be another one. Getting to St Kilda from the airport has become much easier thanks to SkyBus.”

Adult One way fares between St Kilda and Melbourne Airport will be $19, with return trips costing $38. Families can take advantage of SkyBus’ discounted fares – as on all SkyBus services, children 16 and under travel free when they are booked with an adult fare. For frequent travellers, tickets can be purchased in advanced in blocks of 20, making single-journey trips only $17 per trip. Tickets can be purchased online, via smartphone or at dedicated kiosks.

“We at SkyBus are proud of the services we provide to travellers coming in and out of Melbourne and this new service only enhances our offerings and traveller’s experiences. As a local resident I know how important and unique St Kilda is as a tourist destination within Melbourne, and I’m thrilled that we are making it more accessible than ever,” said Adam Begg, Director of SkyBus.

712M wrote:For two people that would add up to $152 return. More than two weeks of long term parking.

What route will the new service take? Tulla-CityLink-Monash-Eastlink-Frankston Freeways will result in almost unpredictable running times.

More importantly, how often will the service run and how much demand is there from Frankston/Mornington Peninsula?

The service currently operates from Frankston via the Nepean Highway to St.Kilda where it does a few accomodation venue pick ups then Kingsway and King Street through the CBD.I wouldn't anticipate that would be changed.As for demand the current timetable shows 12 return services from Frankston-Airport.Less from the Mornington Peninsula.FAPAS commenced the service around 1982 and built up a good frequency service and operated a modern fleet of smaller buses-Mazdas -then Coasters-then Hino RB8'S-then King Longs on the route.My observations showed a well patronised service.There is good solid demand from the St.Kilda area.I'm not sure there is enough demand to justify a half hourly service from St.Kilda to the Airport as Skybus propose with King Long size buses,but time will tell.But there is certaintly enough from the combined service to operate 12 returns per day.

As for demand, a friend tried to book a seat on the 14:45 ex Frankston today and was told they could not guarantee him a seat and advised him he'd have to travel on the 16:45 bus or make alternative arrangements.

Free travel for St Kilda passengers between 14 and 20 August!Pre-purchase today for travel from 21 August

The SkyBus St Kilda Express provides airport transfers between Melbourne Airport (Tullamarine) and St Kilda, 7 days a week. The service runs express to St Kilda then stops at four convenient locations.

The St Kilda Express operates seven days a week, 365 days of the year, with a weekday frequency of 30 minutes. Buses run up to 52 trips per day, on a continuous loop, directly between Melbourne Airport and St Kilda.

Passengers using the service benefit from access to SkyBus’ world-class customer experience, inclusive of free on board Wi-Fi, a modern comfortable fleet, industry leading vehicle presentation, kerbside concierges and exceptional customer service.

Conveniently located throughout St KildaAt Melbourne Airport we are located in the Direct buses (Purple zone), centre lane, ground floor opposite International arrivals, ready to transport you directly to St Kilda. Once in St Kilda we stop at four convenient locations around the bayside area.

Melbourne Airport (Tullamarine)Pickup and dropoff: The bus will be located in the Direct buses zone on the ground floor, opposite Terminal 2. Exit International arrivals and cross to the middle lane and look for the purple zone.

No need to bookSkyBus St Kilda Express runs regular services thoughout the day – seven days a week, 365 days of the year. With a weekday frequency of 30 minutes, travelling with SkyBus is easy.

There is no need to book, you can buy your ticket online and just turn up and go. St Kilda Express tickets are also available onboard from your driver with card payment only.

Only $19 one waySkyBus St Kilda Express is great value for money at only $19 one way. Our fleet of modern, air-conditioned buses will get you between St Kilda and Melbourne Airport in comfort. Travelling with SkyBus gives you peace of mind with a fixed price and a frequent, reliable service. Plus you can stay connected with our free onboard WiFi.

Skybus wrote:SkyBus has a new departure point at Southern Cross Station27 July 2016

We have made some changes to improve our operations and are now departing from Bay 75 at Southern Cross Station.

Bay 75 is located on the western side of the bus interchange (the opposite side to where we previously departed at Bay 50). This location has created greater kerb space for our vehicles, reducing passenger congestion and helping us get you on your way to the airport sooner.

Melbourne Airport arrivals will continue to be dropped off at Bay 51.

Ticket boothWe have also relocated to our new ticket booth at the entry of the bus interchange, opposite the Degani café. The ticket office will be open between 4:00am and 11:00pm, outside of these hours tickets are available from the self-serve kiosks with card payments only or you can buy online.

Melbourne Airport’s departing flight feed is also on display in our ticket booth to keep you up to date with your flight information.

Self-serve kiosks

Skip the queue and buy your ticket using our easy to use, touchscreen self-serve kiosks. For your convenience we have installed 6 kiosks; three are positioned in front of our new ticket booth, one by the entry ramp leading to bay 75 and two nearby to bay 75.

I did notice this on Skybus Facebook page earlier. I hvae to Wonder what the real reasoning is behind moving the Skybus to a much less convenient location at Southern Cross? Will be interesting to see what utilises the space where The skybus used to leave from.

Andy O wrote:I did notice this on Skybus Facebook page earlier. I hvae to Wonder what the real reasoning is behind moving the Skybus to a much less convenient location at Southern Cross? Will be interesting to see what utilises the space where The skybus used to leave from.

The new bay is at most about 20m further away than before - bay 75 is on the other side of the coach bays, you access it using the left hand entrance to the coach terminal rather than right hand side.

Other than the relocated ticket booth making the move painless, I suspect SkyBus wanted more space to layover between trips - the previous arrangement meant there was generally only room for two vehicles at any one time, one dropping off at Bay 51 and one loading at Bay 50, which was not ideal at peak times when they attempted to run a 5 min headway and resulted in people having to queue up waiting for a bus to move forward. They have effectively gained at least two more bays, now allowing two buses to layover at any time.

I've never been able to get the wifi to work on Skybus.Re the new St Kilda service, see also:SkyBus starts service from St Kilda offering free trips until Saturday.Port Phillip Leader August 15, 2016.For a copy of the timetable, visit skybus.com.au/stkilda\www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/inner-south ... 6d21a2a571

The following footnote has appeared on the FAPAS timetable on the SkyBus website:Please note, from Monday 6 February 2017 the FAPAS service will no longer stop at Novotel St Kilda, Cosmopolitan Hotel, Base Backpackers, Barkly Street, Rosebud and Dromana.

The FAPAS service bypassing St.Kilda is ,I believe, an attempt to cut duplication with the Airport-St.Kilda service and then hoping to get the former St.Kilda FAPAS pax onto the St.Kilda-Airport service.From my observations at Melbourne Airport the St.Kilda service is performing poorly with average loadings of between 0-8 pax per trip inbound and outbound on full size buses.With Skybus' overhead costs I do not believe the St.Kilda -Melbourne Airport service is profitable.A smaller operater with small buses and much lower costs would easily make money with average loadings of 4-8 pax per trip on that timetable with the fares currently charged.Unfortunately the move to bypass St.Kilda will probably impact the profitablity of the FAPAS service as the St.Kilda loadings filled the bus on many trips.In short,as I suspected initially, just not enough pax from St.Kilda to justify the half hourly timetable with full size buses and large overhead costs.

As for demand, a friend tried to book a seat on the 14:45 ex Frankston today and was told they could not guarantee him a seat and advised him he'd have to travel on the 16:45 bus or make alternative arrangements.

Kind Regards

Craig

Even at $120 an Uber would be cheaper from St Kilda.

The views expressed by me are mine and mine only. They do not neccesarily fall in line with the views of my friends, family, collegues or my employer.

Andy O wrote:Thanks for the reply Craig my bad i was misinterpreting the location of the new bay. Not such a bad idea after all.

The expansion of the bays Skybus use is possibly due to the Avalon service starting shortly, but the use of Bays on the west side limits drop off bays on that side during any major V/line replacements and also takes away the Bays used by Countrylink when the XPT is replaced by Coaches.

But at least a professional bus driver will stop for you and welcome you onto his bus, unlike the Uber drivers on this forum who'll see you standing on a street corner with luggage, decide you're going to the airport which they don't like then drive off and report you as being a "no show", leaving you to pay a $10 fee for nothing